There is no gainsaying that education is vital to the development of any nation. It is a process through which individuals are made functional members of their society. It is a process through which the young acquire knowledge, realise their potentials and use them for self-actualisation to be useful to themselves and others. In every society, education connotes acquisition of something worthwhile.  That is the reason different countries of the world invest on qualitative education of the entire populaces especially the younger ones.

Nigerian government is not left behind in the effort towards the attainment of education for AUCEFA and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

A few days ago, the federal government constituted a 17-member committee for integration of the out of school children from the southsouth and south east into the basic education system.

Inaugurating the committee in Abuja the Minister of State of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, decried the low number of enrolment for boys in the southsouth and south east.

In his words, “In spite of the collective efforts of governments at all levels, we know that we are still far from our destination as far as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education For All (EFA) goals are concerned.

“We know that we have made tremendous improvement in access and national enrolment but millions of our children particularly boys in southsouth and south east states are out of school”.   I think such commitment to addressing basic education challenges should be commended and encouraged for better result.

In the south eastern states the increasing boy-child dropout rate is a serious concern and one which will have a detrimental impact on the future of the region and the nation.

In many families in this region, boys no longer have interest in education. Because school graduates find it difficult to secure jobs that match their education, the younger generation sees little practical value in staying in school beyond a few primary grades.

Some parents equally see investing in the education of their children as a useless venture as such children often come back to them after graduation, failing to secure meaningful employment, when their counterparts in business have become, “millionaires”.

So the fundamental problem is our value system. The emphasis on wealth accumulation has trumped the core value of education. The family, society and even the education system teach our children to value wealth amassment than the acquisition of knowledge and problem solving skills. A man’s worth is measured by his material acquisition, not minding how he got them.

This wrong value system, some people argue, is the reason for high rate of kidnapping, armed robbery and other social-vices prevalent in the country, particularly southeast and southsouth regions. Our youths are pre-occupied with an elusive chase for wealth which has prompted them to engage in unbecoming acts.

Education experts also attribute the increasing number of out-of-school children in the states in question to poverty and poor quality of education leading to dissatisfaction from parents who would rather have their children make extra money through hawking than going to school.

This can be solved by governors of the southsouth and southeast states emulating Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, and his Imo counterpart, Rochas Okorocha, who have declared total free education for primary and secondary school children.

Adequate funding of schools should be the priority of these governors, coupled with proper remuneration, training and discipline of teachers.

Government should ensure that funds allocated for out-of-school children are used for the slated purpose, ensuring that they carry out quality infrastructural works that would stand the test of time.

There is need for Nigeria to imbibe the culture of other countries that provided for children who are not financially strong. Many of these children have resources within them that can facilitate a better Nigeria someday.

Parents should also contribute in reducing the number of out-of-school children by ensuring that their children are planned for so as the make it easier for them to be properly cared for. Parents should also be sensitised on the importance of education. They should be made to realise that no other investment has such a lasting effect as the education of children.

Well-to-do citizens in southsouth and south east states should support government programmes that will lift children out of poverty and ignorance and be of lasting benefit to future generations.

Calista Ezeaku